delinquent with a grin.

Mr. Fairfax and Bessie walked on to the "King's Arms," and there for the
present said good-bye. Bessie ran home to tell her adventures, but on
the threshold she met a check in the shape of Jack, set to watch for her
return and tell her she was wanted. Mr. John Short was come, and was
with Mrs. Carnegie in the drawing-room.

"I say, Bessie, you are not going away, are you?" asked the boy, laying
violent hands on her when he had acquitted himself of his message.
"Biddy says you are. I say you sha'n't."

Mrs. Carnegie heard her son's unabashed voice in the hall, and opening
the door, she invited Bessie in.




CHAPTER VII.

_HER FATE IS SEALED._


Mr. John Short rose as Miss Fairfax entered, and bowed to her with
deference. Bessie, being forbidden by her mother to retreat, sat down
with ostentatious resignation to bear what was to come. But her bravado
was not well enough grounded to sustain her long. The preliminaries were
already concluded when she arrived, and Mrs. Carnegie was giving
utterance to her usual regret that her dear little girl had not been
taught to speak French or play on the piano. Mr. Fairfax's